Nowadays if a movie is anything more than an outright flop, and the story allows, a sequel is simply going to get made. Even if the movie wasn't that well received. Did it do well in China? That'll do. Did it make a profit? Go for it. Now You See Me 3 is on the way, FYI.

All this got us thinking. If classic movies of old, which never got sequels, were released in today's Hollywood climate, would they have had their own franchises?

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Now that vintage movies like Top Gun and Dark Crystal are getting some form of follow-up, we've gone back through time and picked out our favourite movies which stayed solo, and never got their own sequels (yet). We're not saying we would want them to have sequels – we're just saying they totally *would have* if they were made today.

1. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)

Whether you love or hate this early '90s take on the Robin Hood legend, especially Kevin Costner's... unique performance, you can't deny that it was a huge success, and we're astounded a sequel never followed.

It made $390 million at the box office on a budget of less than $50m, it had that epic number one hit by Bryan Adams, and it even had a colon in the title. If that doesn't shout franchise-starter, we don't know what does.

Maybe it was the decision to kill off Alan Rickman's excellent villain the Sheriff of Nottingham, but there's no way movie studios would have left this one as a one-off if they made it today.

2. Elf (2004)

Christmas movies are always a tricky one. As they only have a relatively short shelf life at the box office, it might take a few years before studios realise how popular and successful they are.

It's fair to say that Will Ferrell's feel good festive romp has become a modern classic and must-watch every Christmas for many people, and so it's quite surprising that he hasn't revisited the character since.

Considering Bad Santa got a sequel last year after over a decade away, we wouldn't be surprised if Buddy makes a comeback one day.

3. Groundhog Day (1993)

Bill Murray's tale of finding true happiness thanks to a somewhat terrifying time loop is such a simple but clever plot for a movie. It would have been horrible to see Phil Connors find himself trapped in another endless day years later, but we doubt movie studios would care about that.

If it wasn't the same character, then nowadays they probably would have gone down the Evan Almighty route and given the same situation to another sorry sad sack. It would have no doubt sucked, but they still would have tried.

4. Mrs Doubtfire (1993)

This film may have had a perfect ending, with Robin Williams's Daniel Hillard finding peace with his estranged family, and everyone finding out about his Scottish nanny alter ego.

But the end of the film saw Daniel still playing Mrs Doubtfire for a TV show. It wasn't as if he'd hung up the fake boobs and fat suit for good. We're pretty certain that if this film was made 10 or so years later, they would have at least tried to convince Williams to return, even if the plot made zero sense.

5. Point Break (1991)

Patrick Swayze's Bodhi is assumed to have surfed into the sunset to his death, but when has something like that stopped movie sequels bringing characters back to life?

Considering that the first Fast & Furious movie was basically a remake of Point Break but with cars, it makes you ponder just where this film could have gone if they wanted to bring back Patrick and Keanu Reeves for at least one more instalment.

If they used the F&F formula, Keanu would have led a borderline terrible sequel, Swayze would have made a cameo in a third film which focused on someone else entirely, before the two of them reunited in a fourth film and beyond.

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6. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)

It was a movie that was so bonkers, it shouldn't have worked. But Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg's animated/live action hybrid starring Bob Hoskins and a somewhat irritating cartoon rabbit was a big hit, and was pretty great.

It's surprising then, that a cash-in sequel wasn't made. Any animated movie that makes a buck or two instantly gets a sequel today. Even Cars – no-one's favourite Pixar movie – will soon get a third film.

A proposed sequel had been in the works in the early 1990s titled Who Discovered Roger Rabbit?, but plans were eventually scrapped. However, Zemeckis is still working on a potential follow-up set in the 1950s, so watch this space...

7. All the Disney movies

While we're talking about animated movies, isn't it surprising that Disney didn't attempt to make more sequels in the past? We know that most of their classic films were based on well-known stories, but there's no reason why they couldn't have made a follow-up. Well, other than artistic integrity and wanting to remain original.

Huge films like Aladdin and The Lion King did get sequels of course, but the Disney formula back then was to make them as straight-to-video movies. They had hardly any of the originals' budgets and were made as pure cash-ins rather than serious attempts to capture the spirit (and money) of what came before.

It wasn't until Pixar's Toy Story 2 that Disney sat up and thought, "Hang on, we could milk this." That's why we're now getting a second Frozen. Disney may be focusing on making live-action versions of their most famous hits, but don't be surprised if there's a Beauty and the Beast 2 in a few years' time.

8. ET the Extra Terrestrial (1982)

For a time, this was the most successful movie ever made. It cemented Steven Spielberg as the king of directors, and you couldn't escape the little feller.

So, why the hell did Universal not milk this wrinkly, little, brown cash cow for all he was worth? Don't get us wrong, we're glad the studio didn't. It had a perfect ending, and we doubt they could come up with a story idea that could remotely come close to the first.

But, come on. If this film came out today and was even half as profitable, there's no way they wouldn't make a follow-up, whether we or Spielberg wanted one or not. They would have come up with a half-arsed reason for ET to return to Earth in a half-hour board meeting.

Having said that, Spielberg did write a treatment for a sequel titled ET II: Nocturnal Fears. It would have shown Elliott and his friends getting kidnapped by evil aliens, and their attempts to contact ET for help. However, Spielberg later decided against it, feeling it "would do nothing but rob the original of its virginity".

9. The Goonies (1985)

A YA movie before YA movies were a thing? This was one of the greatest adventure movies of the '80s – perhaps ever – and it made us all want to be honorary Goonies trying to find One-Eyed Willy's (tee-hee) treasure.

Surely it was a slam dunk idea to bring back the guys and girls of the first movie for a second adventure? Today, they would have been back within a couple of years, and made at least three sequels with a finale split into two parts.

Director Richard Donner and various cast members have often spoken about a potential sequel, with Donner saying a couple of years ago that it will "definitely" happen one day. It might be 30 years too late, but we'd watch the crap out of that.